~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Common sense is not a gift, but a curse. Because thenyou have to deal with all the people who don't have it. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When someone reposts a blog post on Facebook, and I read it and realize that rather than being a snarky social commentary, its actually quite condescending and mean spirited. And people I otherwise respect are leaving "yes!" comments. And I can't respond because what's the point? If someone is willing to dedicate an entire post to (paraphrasing) "10 reasons why decision Y is terrible and you are an idiot if you didn't choose X like me" nothing I say will make a dent.

Also obnoxious is the friend who posts things like, "ugh my run was sooooo slow today, Z min per mile" where Z is faster than my pace on a good day. Thanks for that.

In both these cases, I don't honestly care that they have different opinions or goals than me. What bugs me is the annoying, negative, and judgy way they were presented. Both things could easily have been written in such a way that anyone might relate, like "10 reasons why I decided X" or the slow run comment without the time.

Actually, the things that drive me up the wall are the blog posts that are presented like they are this brilliant ground-breaking social commentary when they are sort of ho-hum.

Like the various open letters to the leader of North Korea/Syria etc. telling them to stop oppressing their people. And they always start with, "Maybe it's just me..." and then they throw out an opinion as if they are the lone voice of reason and wisdom in the mad, mad world.

Well lets see: The U.N agrees with you, public opinion agrees with you, the media outlets agree with you. Pretty much out of seven billion people, maybe 10 don't agree with you. So why are you beginning this rant with this martyr disclaimer?

Actually, the things that drive me up the wall are the blog posts that are presented like they are this brilliant ground-breaking social commentary when they are sort of ho-hum.

Like the various open letters to the leader of North Korea/Syria etc. telling them to stop oppressing their people. And they always start with, "Maybe it's just me..." and then they throw out an opinion as if they are the lone voice of reason and wisdom in the mad, mad world.

Well lets see: The U.N agrees with you, public opinion agrees with you, the media outlets agree with you. Pretty much out of seven billion people, maybe 10 don't agree with you. So why are you beginning this rant with this martyr disclaimer?

Because people like to feel like they're doing something brave. It's really, really easy to do something "brave" when everyone agrees with you.

I read about one young woman who was being praised for her bravery - a speaker was coming to her college. Her college was majority X Party. Everyone she knew personally was X Party - her parents, her friends, her social circle, and most of her professors. This speaker was famously Y Party, which was a distinct minority on campus. So this young woman went to the speech being given, with a group of friends from X Party, and intentionally caused a huge disturbance. She was ejected from the speech, and afterwards, she was feted by half her campus and her parents for being so brave. It's brave to be rude to an invited speaker when everyone you know agrees with you already?

People like my coworker who say that someone has "old timers", instead of "Alzheimer's".The really sad part is that we work in the business office for medical providers.

When I was a kid, I really thought it was called "old timers" because I had never seen it in spelling. When somebody is an adult, let alone one that should be somewhat familiar with medical terminology, this seems odd.

When you get something new and others want to use it before you even get the chance.

Specifically my DH and specifically a gift he got for me. He's peeved that I won't let him use gift before I get to use it myself. It's mine and I should be able to use gift first...I don't care if he does later, I just want the first time to be mine. That's reasonable, isn't it?

Then he tells me he'll just buy duplicate for himself if I won't let him use mine. Hmmm, no. He bought a more expensive, very similar item for himself a few weeks ago...if he wanted one like mine, he should have bought it instead of what he did get.

I've had three other people ask to use gift as well...at least they were understanding that I'd like a few weeks to use it myself.

I'm not posting what the gift is because I don't want to derail the thread. If you are just dying to know, please pm and I'll tell you the full story behind the gift.

This is why I was in charge of buying and setting up my Mum's Kindle, because we knew if it went within 10 feet of Dad it would be opened, fiddled with and a million books she didn't want would be loaded onto it (rather than the two we knew she wanted and bought from Amazon). It was given to my Dad to take on holiday with them already wrapped up so he couldn't even "just look at it". Mum made him wait a few months before buying his own because she wanted to enjoy her present as something unique. Dazi - I'd love to hear what your gift was.

People like my coworker who say that someone has "old timers", instead of "Alzheimer's".The really sad part is that we work in the business office for medical providers.

When I was a kid, I really thought it was called "old timers" because I had never seen it in spelling. When somebody is an adult, let alone one that should be somewhat familiar with medical terminology, this seems odd.

Well, there's a persistent joke of calling it that to be funny, and so I imagine it leads to (a) people growing up thinking that's the real name, and (b) other people knowing it's a joke but continuing to crack the joke over and over, even though it's about as fresh as "if it doesn't scan, it's free" by this point.

today is free shipping Monday, but what really irks me is companies who offer 'free' shipping, but you have to spend a minimum amount, and its no different that other promos the same companies run periodically. Like the one from a chocolate company, but you have to spend $100 to get free shipping!

as one person, its not always easy to spend the minimum needed to get free shipping, whether it be food, clothing or whatnot.

I agree, though, that Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher is possibly the most ridiculous casting decision since John Wayne as Genghis Khan. It wouldn't be such a big deal with many other action characters, because Cruise can convincingly portray a dangerous, intimidating man despite the fact that he's legally a midget in 34 states (and an animal in the other 34). But Jack Reacher is a big guy. It's an integral part of his character.

Are you sure your wife would mind if I married you too? You oughta ask her. She might be cool with it.

I have experience this a few times in my life and I'm starting to see a pattern. I've had various relatives/acquaintances/friends who want to bring their boyfriends over to meet everyone, but they qualify it with "Well, he's shy/quiet/mild-mannered". Then the boyfriend shows up and sits sullenly in the corner the whole time, and his girlfriend goes back and forth like he's an invalid, bringing him food, scurrying back to chat with everyone else, going back to the boyfriend to rub his back and murmur in his ear. Often they hold entire conversations with just each other because no one else can hear or approach them. Or they sit there and do PDA the whole time. Drives me nuts. Usually they talk in whispers, and the girlfriend's whole demeanor changes. She can be the bubbliest person in the world but when the boyfriend's around they turn into Debbie and Dylan Downer. Drags the whole atmosphere down.

I hate that, Adelaide! One of my brothers-in-law used to be like that (he's become much more friendly since, thank goodness). When he and my husband's sister were newly married, they joined us for a Christmas Day family gathering at our house. BIL went downstairs to our rec room and turned on The Game rather than socialize with the family. I was royally ticked (I was brought up to NEVER turn on someone else's TV without permission), and when the entire family adjourned to the rec room after dinner, I turned off the TV and said "Sorry, BIL, but the TV stays off while we're visiting." He stomped upstairs like a kid having a tantrum (he was in his 30's at the time), muttering angrily "I can't even watch The Game!" SIL then turned to her brother (my husband) and said beseechingly "Can't you let Tom watch The Game? Don't you want your guests to be comfortable?" My husband said reasonably "But Lori, we don't like sports. If we turn on The Game, we won't be comfortable, because we won't be able to have a conversation. Don't we matter, too?" She didn't have an answer for that one, and she and BIL left shortly afterwards.

Ever since then, when we've visited their house, The Game has been on in the livingroom. And yes, we find it impossible to have a conversation. I've had to bite my tongue to keep from saying "There's a Doctor Who marathon that I'm dying to see. Can we change the channel? What do you mean, 'no'? Don't you want your guests to be COMFORTABLE?"

MIL can make it onto Facebook on a sketchy internet connection to reply to her friends but she can't reply to a text DH sent her (which was sent within two minutes of her texting him in reply to a text he sent twelve hours earlier).

I hate that, Adelaide! One of my brothers-in-law used to be like that (he's become much more friendly since, thank goodness). When he and my husband's sister were newly married, they joined us for a Christmas Day family gathering at our house. BIL went downstairs to our rec room and turned on The Game rather than socialize with the family. I was royally ticked (I was brought up to NEVER turn on someone else's TV without permission), and when the entire family adjourned to the rec room after dinner, I turned off the TV and said "Sorry, BIL, but the TV stays off while we're visiting." He stomped upstairs like a kid having a tantrum (he was in his 30's at the time), muttering angrily "I can't even watch The Game!" SIL then turned to her brother (my husband) and said beseechingly "Can't you let Tom watch The Game? Don't you want your guests to be comfortable?" My husband said reasonably "But Lori, we don't like sports. If we turn on The Game, we won't be comfortable, because we won't be able to have a conversation. Don't we matter, too?" She didn't have an answer for that one, and she and BIL left shortly afterwards.

Ever since then, when we've visited their house, The Game has been on in the livingroom. And yes, we find it impossible to have a conversation. I've had to bite my tongue to keep from saying "There's a Doctor Who marathon that I'm dying to see. Can we change the channel? What do you mean, 'no'? Don't you want your guests to be COMFORTABLE?"

i hate this as well. My cousin had a milestone birthday over the summer, and had a party, at her SIL's house. for which SIL and I did most of the cooking, prep, etc. Which was fine. we didn't mind. Cousin's BF however, arrived, and proceeded to ask where the remote was (it had been put away) as he wanted to watch a baseball game. Nothing special about it, just one game out of an 8 month season. so he watched in the other room,while the rest of us enjoyed ourselves. Cousin's excuse is that he "isn't very social" well, first of all, its HER party, and secondly, we all have to do things something we don't care for, but we suck it up, and do it. Just reinforced my feeling that i didn't really care much for him, as he's selfish, among other things.